1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to strap-form wrap ties and closures, specifically to such ties as are used for closing the necks of plastic bags, are releasable, and are used as well for other purposes such as bundling wires, cords and cables, and for like applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention makes use of the familiar VELCRO(trademark) brand hook and loop fastening system. Invented over 40 years ago, the extraordinary Velcro system has over the years found literally thousands of applications and uses, and many patents have been issued for products that make use of hook and loop materials. Hence, much of the prior art to which we will refer will be products that employ the hook and loop fastening system.
One version of the Velcro(trademark) type hook and loop fastening system is in the form of a strap wherein the hook component is permanently adhered to one face of the strap (which might be called the gripper face) and the loop component (often wooly in appearance) is permanently adhered to the opposite face of the strap. Such fasteners are often referred to as self-engaging back-to-back fasteners. The Velcro(trademark) company calls this the xe2x80x9cOne-Wrap Brandxe2x80x9d back-to-back fastener. The loop component may be of woven or knit or pile construction, or a web of entangled fibers, and this component is effectively engaged by the hook or gripper component simply by pressing the two components together by hand. The tie thus attaches to itself. The tie is also easy to xe2x80x9cuntiexe2x80x9d. One releases it from its grip on itself simply by peeling it away from itself. The tie holds very effectively for its purpose and it is reusable. It can be fastened and unfastened repeatedly without losing its effectiveness.
One use for a tie made of self-engaging back-to-back hook and loop fastener materials in strap form is for closing plastic bags. In that use, the tie is wrapped around the gathered open end of a bag (which we will call the neck of the bag) to close it effectively. Such closures are also easy to untie and remove and they may be reused repeatedly.
The closing of plastic bags with releasable ties or closures has presented an opportunity that has attracted numerous inventors and innovators. Numbers of patents have been issued for products which address this application.
Another important use for a strap tie is for wrapping and bundling wire, cord, tubing and the like. These strap-type ties and those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,132 B1 to Robley (2002), U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,904 to Polad (2002), U.S. Pat. No. 6,205,623 B1 to Shepard and Clune (2001), U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,525 to Sastre et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,676 to Tolan (1998), U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,961 to Cole (1997), U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,603 to Reed (1992), U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,743 to Hahn (1992), U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,158 to Koerner (1991), U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,981 to Provost (1990), U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,818 to Hahn (1990), U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,381 to Frankel (1990), U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,274 to Patricy (1989) U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,172 to Ward (1989), U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,722 to Malamed (1987), U.S. Pat. No. 4,149,540 to Hasslinger (1 979), and U.S. Pat. No. 3,000,384to Piers, Jr. (1961) all suffer variously from disadvantages such as complexity, complication, clumsiness in use, the need for accessory products such as buckles, slides and keepers, or the need for special orientation of parts, segments, or components. These disadvantages are in some cases compounded by high cost to manufacture. U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,483 to Polk discloses a shoe lace securing device, illustrated in our FIGS. 9, 10, 11 and 12. There is a tab shape on at least one end of the device. Attached by adhesive or other means to a first surface of the device at one end only is a patch with loop material on the patch (FIG. 9-34 and FIG. 10-34). The rest of the first surface is smooth and is used for printing or ornamental decoration. The opposite surface of the device is completely covered with hook material. FIGS. 13 and 14 show one embodiment of the Polk device being applied to the laces of a shoe. In the installation, the device is placed underneath the shoe laces at the knot, hook surface up. The tab end is folded up and over the shoe lace knot, the hook surface engaging the knot and the adjacent laces, the hook faced tab overlapping and mating with the small loop faced patch on the opposite end of the opposite face of the device, thus securing the knot as well as hiding itxe2x80x94which is its stated purpose. FIG. 15 shows the finished installation. The attractively decorated face of the tab is outermost, and virtually all that we see. The Polk apparatus has done its job.
The short device of the Polk patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,483) accomplishes its limited purpose quite adequatelyxe2x80x94which is to secure and cover a shoe lace knot. But it cannot be used, nor was it intended to be used, as an adjustable tie for the broad range of binding tasks for which our tie was designed. Such tasks include adjustably binding bags of many different types, different sizes, different materials, and different neck diameters; as well as adjustably binding a variety of different products such as cords, cables, fibers, tubingand the like in a bundling type of operationxe2x80x94all of these examples being binding tasks for which our tie is eminently well suited. Perhaps the simplest and most popular tie in the general category of strap-form ties is the type illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 5 in U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,525 to Satire and others (2000), and illustrated in our FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C. In addition to straps such as those just mentioned, strips cut from sheets of Velcro-type self-engaging back-to-back hook and loop material, as well as the same material in tape form and available in the marketplace, can also be used for the applications already referred to.
However, as useful as the back-to-back strap ties are, there are disadvantages and limitations. Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 5 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,525, and illustrated in our FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C, referred to in the above paragraph, note that a slot 16 has been cut into the slightly widened end of each strap. This end is wider than the strap body in order to accommodate the slot through which the strap will pass. The first disadvantage of this otherwise very useful tie is that in using the tie for bundling a number of wires, cords or cables, one should (as advised by the manufacturer) first wrap the tie around a single cord or cable, push the tie through the slot, pull it up tight, and then having thus anchored the strap, wrap it around the rest of the bundle, pressing the strap onto itself to complete the tie. This rather cumbersome anchoring step, during which the tie tends to get caught as it passes through the slot shown in FIG. 3B, becomes unnecessary, as will be seen, with the tie of the present invention.
The second disadvantage of the strap tie as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,525 to Sastre et al. (2000) and illustrated in our FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C is that it is not well suited to many binding tasks, being too wide, as presently targeted, for many applications. (If too long, one simply cuts off the excess.) If one prefers not to use the tie in strap form with the slot, and just buy the Velcro(trademark) brand or other brand back-to-back self-adhering material in roll or sheet form, it is available only in ⅝xe2x80x3 minimum width. If one prefers to use a strap in narrower dimension as better suited to the task at hand, he might himself cut, or have cut by a converter, strips of narrower dimensions. However, in wrapping something with a narrow strap, say, xe2x85x9cxe2x80x3 wide, there is still a disadvantage. It would be hard to anchor one end of the strap and then wrap it tightly and neatly around an object, because the thumb keeps getting in the way. The wrapping hence becomes awkward, clumsy and unsatisfactory.
We list below all patents which we have found, or which have been called to our attention, which we consider to be relevant references in the context of this application. The list includes patents which were specifically cited in the foregoing text, as well as patents considered not to require special comment.
We subscribe to the maxim often addressed to would-be inventors and marketers. xe2x80x9cIf you would be successful, find a need and fill it.xe2x80x9d This is what we did in the context of the present invention.
For some time we have felt that there was a need for a simple and efficient means to close and tie the open end of a bread bag. Loaves of bread sold in food stores and supermarkets are wrapped first in plastic film or waxed paper, the ends heat sealed to exclude air to keep the loaves fresh. The wrapped loaf is then put into another, outer plastic bag for the consumer to store the bread as the loaf is used up. (The inner bag will have been torn and discarded.) The outer bag is roughly the size and shape of the loaf, and as sold in stores, the open end closed by either of two means: (1) a xe2x80x9ctwist-tiexe2x80x9d (a tie made of paper covered wire, or a similar tie made of plastic that performs essentially in the same way); (2) the second means of closure is a clip die cut out of flexible plastic sheet. This clip has a configuration similar to the drawing in FIG. 1.
Both of these means work reasonably well as bag closures, but they work less than satisfactorily for repeated opening and re-closing by the consumer. Even after first use, the twist-tie becomes deformed and after repeated use it becomes increasingly deformed and is not a pleasure to use. Furthermore, when untwisting these ties, one is never sure whether to go in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, because the deformed tie makes it virtually impossible to tell at a glance which way to untwist. Altogether, this is a source of annoyance.
The plastic clip is efficient in keeping the bag closed, but the pointed projections inside the clip, which keep the bag closed while handling, make the clip hard to take off, and the clip is very hard to put back on. These clips were designed to keep the bag closed; they were not designed for customer convenience. So this is another source of annoyance for the consumer, who is left to his or her own devices to close, open, and then re-close the bread bag repeatedly as the contents are used up.
Inventors have recognized this problem and the associated opportunity, and several different designs for closures have appeared on the market. One such closure is in the form of a clasp or clamp about 2xc2xdxe2x80x3 long, with hinged jaws that open like a xe2x80x9cVxe2x80x9d, and then clamp down tight, with a catch at the open end, which holds the clasp closed. This clasp is not unlike a common hair clasp. Such a device requires that the gathered open end of the bag be spread more or less evenly within the jaws of the clasp in order for it to close the bag effectively and then to engage the snap catch that holds the clasp closed. Accordingly, this type of closure does not appear to have gained wide acceptance in the marketplace.
We found another type of clip in a store a year or two ago but have not seen it anywhere since. This clip, intended for the same purpose (bread bag closure) was made of plastic, and looked approximately like the drawing in FIG. 2. The clip had a xe2x80x9cVxe2x80x9d-type opening, and a spring-like action, so that it would open at 24 where the neck of the bag would be inserted, and then, under tension, close again over the neck of the bag. The bag would be held within the loop at 26. The hook shape identified as 28 in FIG. 2 was presumably intended to help the user pull the clip onto the neck of the plastic bag. Experimenting showed us that this clip is actually not very convenient to use. A further limitation is the fact that the loop in FIG. 2-26, which is intended to hold the neck of the bag in a closed state, is of finite size. Thus, depending on the size of the bag and the thickness of the plastic, some bags would be held tightly closed ideally, while other bags may not be closed tightly enough to exclude air, which is its essential purpose. There is no adjustability. These limitations may account for its apparent lack of success in the marketplace.
A third type of clip we found in just one store two years ago is essentially a variation of the familiar spring-activated paper clip or clamp. One squeezes the handles, and the clip opens to be placed around the neck of a bag, and then one releases the handles so that the clip or clamp under spring tension re-closes around the neck of the bag. This clip seems not to have found favor and seems to have disappeared from the marketplace.
We mention these various devices to make the point that there appears to be recognition of xe2x80x9cthe needxe2x80x9d (a simple and efficient reusable closure for a bread bag), but that a satisfactory solution has so far not appeared.
We believe that the present invention is a good solution to the problems presented above, and will have appeal in the marketplace for its simplicity, its effectiveness, and its modest cost.
Moreover, while conceived for the bread bag, it is obvious that the closure of the present invention can be used for many other and sizes of plastic bags used for retail products and in industry. It can also he used to wrap and secure wires and cords used on computers and office machines, on appliances, tools, electronic devices, and the like, being especially useful where the thing being tied is of a relatively smaller dimension.
Accordingly, beside the advantages in inherent in the Velcro(trademark)-type hook and loop fastener system, in particular the self-engaging back-to-back variation of the hook and loop tie which our invention employs, and as described in the foregoing discussion, several objects and advantages will become apparent.
For the sake of convenience in reviewing all objects and advantages we desire to present, we list below those previously mentioned in the foregoing text, as well as others not specifically noted heretofore.
(a) to provide a flexible bag tie which is simple in concept, effective in its performance, easy to use, quick to apply, is adjustable, and is neat in appearance
(b) to provide a tie which is easy to remove without damage to itself or to the object(s) enclosed;
(c) to provide a tie which is re-usable repeatedly;
(d) to provide a tie whose smaller and variable dimensions permit new and additional uses and potential applications;
(e) to provide a tie which can be offered in a variety of colors to add appeal to consumers;
(f) to provide a tie which can be marketed at a modest price to consumers;
(g) to provide a tie which has many other uses beyond its use as a bag tie, for which it was first conceived;
(h) to provide a tie which does not require any special orientation or mating of parts or segments;
(i) to provide a tie which does not require any extra parts or accessories such as slides, buckles or keepers;
(j) to provide a tie which does not require any special interlocking of parts (aside from the simple mating of surfaces) and does not require the insertion of parts through loops, slits or slots in order to use the tie effectively;
(k) to provide a tie which can be manufactured in a variety of materials to suit a variety of applications;
(l) to provide a tie which can be applied in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction by either a right-handed or a left-handed person;
(m) to provide a tie which can be manufactured in a variety of strengths to suit a variety of applications;
(n) to provide a tie which can be readily extended in length without the need for different materials, parts, or special techniques;
(o) to provide a tie which can be readily shortened simply by cutting one end;
(p) to provide a tie which can be manufactured in a variety of widths and lengths;
(q) to provide a tie which can be manufactured and offered in the marketplace in elastic form;
(r) to provide a tie which can be manufactured and offered in a variety of shear strengths and with different life cycle ratings, these variations to suit particular needs;
(s) to provide a tie which lends itself to convenient storage by the consumer.
The present invention is a tie in strap form (hooks on one surface of the tie and loops on the opposite surface of the tie). The tie has a special tab on one end (FIG. 4A-14) which facilitates wrapping and tying as described below. In wrapping, the tie attaches to itself.
The special tab can be seen to be a significant help in wrapping the tie lightly and snugly around the objects or objects being enclosed. The tab is of particular value in working with strap-form ties which are narrow in width, e.g., xe2x85x9cxe2x80x3, where without the tab the thumb would get in the way and make wrapping awkward, difficult and inefficient.